Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to user interfaces for hand-held electronic devices, such as mobile telephone devices, touch tablets, personal computers (PC), remote control devices, and/or other devices, and more particularly, to user interfaces for such devices that assist users with, among other things, knowing which user input elements of a device to use when the device's physical orientation changes.
Background Information
Hand-held electronic devices, such as mobile telephone devices, touch tablets, personal computers (PC), remote control devices, and/or other devices have the capability of being physically re-orientated (e.g., flipped upside down, switched between a landscape orientation and a portrait orientation, etc.).
One problem associated with such devices is that a user may have a difficult time determining which user input elements (e.g., buttons, keys, etc.) of a device to use after the device's physical orientation changes. For example, if a device can be operatively held in different orientations, such as normal, upside down, left tilt and right tilt orientations, but the physical buttons/keys of the device are designed for use in the normal orientation, it may be difficult for users to determine which physical buttons/keys to use when the device is positioned in orientations other than the normal orientation.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art to address the foregoing issues, and thereby provide improved user interfaces for hand-held electronic devices that assist users with, among other things, knowing which user input elements of a device to use when the device's physical orientation changes. The present invention described herein addresses these and/or other issues.